GoldCore, the Dublin-based precious metals broker, has opened Ireland’s first institutional-grade gold storage vault amid hopes of a mini gold rush of investors moving bars to Dublin from London as they prepare for Brexit.

The company, which was established in 2003, worked in collaboration with Loomis International, one of the world’s leading storage providers, to set up the vault in south county Dublin last month.

GoldCore is initially targeting 0.5 per cent of the $300 billion (€267 billion) worth of gold bars stashed around London, the world’s biggest gold trading centre, according to Mark O’Byrne, research director at the firm.

“We feel that’s a conservative near-term figure. On the high side, over the next three to five years, it could attract 2-3 per cent if things really took off,” said Mr O’Byrne, declining to give the exact location of the vault for security reasons, though it is disclosed to clients.

Uncertainty

Although gold usually comes into its own during times of political and economic uncertainty, the price of the precious metal has fallen by about 11 per cent from its highs in late January to below $1,200 an ounce, hit by a strengthening dollar as the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates and the US-China trade war unfolded.

Gold prices edged slightly higher on Tuesday – to $1.203.8 per ounce – as investors resorted to bargain-hunting after prices fell to their lowest level in more than a month.

“We are likely to see a retest of $1,200 before any uptrend is resumed,” traders at MKS Pamp said in a note to clients, according to Reuters, adding: “political uncertainty and softer global equities should drive [gold’s] safe-haven demand over medium term”.

GoldCore has said it is pitching its Dublin vault “as financial and geopolitical risk, including trade wars, the Trump presidency and Brexit intensify”, adding that these concerns “make asset diversification and owning assets in different jurisdictions more important than ever”.